§ Mr. Stephen TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has for local New Deal partnerships to organise and deliver the New Deal to those unemployed adults covered by the pilot initiatives due to commence in November. [44286]
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§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe Government wish, through the use of high quality and innovative provision, to build on the experience gained from the New Deal for 18–24 year olds in taking forward the pilots for unemployed adults aged 25 and over, which were announced by the Chancellor in the Budget, 17 March 1998,Official Report, columns 1097–112, and which are due to begin in November.
In the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Mr. Quinn) on 14 May 1998, Official Report, columns 181–82, I announced an invitation to existing private sector led New Deal partnerships to bid for the delivery of ten of the pilots. I am now inviting by means of a letter distributed this week through Employment Service Regional Directors, each of the remaining New Deal partnerships to bid for the delivery of one of the rest of the pilots. The bids will be assessed in terms of both quality and innovation and their provision of a robust basis for evaluation. For this reason we will not be inviting bids from areas which overlap with any of the prototype Employment Zones established in February. We will also need to consider carefully the case for pilots in areas where in-work benefits Earnings Top Up schemes are operating.
We aim to announce the successful bidders, which will number around 20, by September.